Intro from Pearl Chu, GHWCC Chair of the Board and Director Technical Domains & University Relations, SLB
Today’s digital and technology era is driving transformations with extreme rapidity, bringing both amazing advancements but also unintended inequities as outlined in this great article from UN Women (the UN organization with mission to uphold women’s human rights). Building systems and programs (like our GHWCC Women in Tech Summit) that proactively support women and girls in this domain will be essential in our journey towards gender equity going forward.
———
From online learning and digital activism to the rapid expansion of high-paying tech jobs, the digital age has generated unprecedented opportunities for the empowerment of women and girls. But advancing technology is also introducing new forms of inequality and heightened threats to their rights and well-being.
Women and girls remain underrepresented across the creation, use and regulation of technology. They are less likely to use digital services or enter tech-related careers, and significantly more likely to face online harassment and violence. This limits not only their own digital empowerment but also the transformative potential of technology as a whole—over the past decade, women’s exclusion from the digital sphere has shaved $1 trillion off the GDP of low- and middle-income countries.